Sophie Mullins is a first grader living in West Virginia. She thinks her math homework is “kind of too hard,” and she misses the opportunity to take a nap during the day. Sometimes she feels sleepy when she’s doing her school work. What to do? Her mother suggested that Sophie write to her congressman. It was joke, but Sophie liked the idea and sent a letter. “All we do is work work work,” Sophie wrote to United States Senator Joe Manchin. “I need a break. Can you please help?”

The story, recounted by Lara Flam for Today.com, has its charming aspects. Senator Manchin, called Sophie on the phone, a conversation that can be observed on youtube.

But what about Sophie’s fundamental complaint?

The precocious letter writer is no dummie, and she isn’t lazy either. Sophie’s principal says Sophie is a good student who works hard, and notes the transition from kindergarten to first grade is “huge.” An educational psychologist quoted in Flam’s article says that almost all kids in the United States feel the way Sophie does, and that expectations for young elementary school students have changed radically in recent years. “Sandbox, blocks and dress-up are no more,” she said. “It’s much harder. We’ve crunched all the work and curriculum down.”

Why is this happening? “If you work hard it’s going to pay off, you are going to get smarter,” the Senator told young Sophie. That’s the common sense answer of many sincere people, and it’s the right message to send our kids. Research shows that kids who believe in the power of effort learn more efficiently and achieve more in school. But the important question isn’t about work per se, but whether or not some kids are getting too much work at too early an age. And here we’ve got a major problem with the “hard work pays off” theory: It’s not clear that pushing kids at an early age has any long-term advantages.

Consider these points:

1. There is no cross-cultural evidence suggesting that early, rigorous academics are necessary for better outcomes. As many education geeks like to point out, the country of Finland doesn’t begin formal instruction until children are 7, and homework is light or non-existent. Yet Finnish high school students are among the best achievers in the world, consistently vying with students from China , Taiwan, and South Korea for the top ranks in the international students assessments known as PISA.

2. There is no compelling evidence that early reading instruction leads to long-term academic advantages. If you teach a 5-year-old to read, she’ll obviously outperform her less educated peers on literacy tests administered in the first grade. But what happens years later? In a recent study conducted by Sebastian Suggate and his colleagues on English-speaking kids in New Zealand, the researchers compared two groups of kids. Some attended schools where reading instruction began at the age of 5, others went to schools where kids weren’t taught to read until the age of 7. How did things turn out? In the early years, the kids who’d been taught to read at age 5 showed superior literacy skills. But this advantage had disappeared by the age 11. In a companion study, the same researchers found that middle school students who had begun reading instruction later actually had better reading comprehension.

3. To date, no scientific research has tested the effects of assigning homework to children in kindergarten or the first grade. In fact, there has been little research on the effects of homework for older elementary school students, and the studies that do exist call into question whether longer homework assignments in elementary school have a positive impact on achievement.

So nobody yet has demonstrated that “crunching all the work and curriculum down” is going to yield a generation of smarter people. Kids subjected to early, rigorous academic lessons might have a head start, but their peers appear to catch up over time. And maybe that shouldn’t surprise us. As I explained in a recent post, young children learn more slowly than older kids do. Perhaps a 7-year-old can learn in a few months what it takes a 5-year-old all year to master.

There are other concerns, too. What if pushing kids is actually detrimental? Experiments suggest that preschoolers show less creativity and critical thinking when they receive formal instruction (read the details in this post). Research measuring stress hormone levels – in children’s hair and saliva – confirm that many young children experience higher cortisol levels after starting school. We also know that sleep restriction interferes with a child’s ability to learn. In one recent study, young children who took naps at school remembered more the next day. And what about motivation? Are we teaching little kids to dislike school?

None of this proves that new academic standards and homework policies are wrong. But if our kids are subject to these standards and policies, we should realize they are part of a big social experiment. I have no problem with little kids learning to read, write, or investigate mathematics. It can be a wonderful thing. But kids need to be motivated, and they need to be presented with learning opportunities that match their developmental needs and abilities. If pushing young children doesn’t make them smarter, what’s the rush?

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7 Responses to First grader sparks debate: Are kids getting too much work?

TracylovesTeddyB'ssays:

November 23, 2013 at 3:35 pm

Sometimes I think kids get too much homework, but sometimes they are so distracted by being in a room full of people their age that they don’t get as much done in class as we would like. In that case I think they need a little more practice at home. I don’t give homework though. The kids have enough math and language arts so I don’t add more of a burden with science, but I have had one family complain. Clearly it was because the only way their child can appear to be smarter is I they have something they can do at home for him to take to school and get credit. I still refused to add homework to my class because it is my choice not to an it is not fair to my 149 other students to get homework just because one student’s parents want it. It’s a shame because they are only hurting him, but they will have to learn that the hard way.

All the crazy testing I’ve been hearing about makes me glad that I’m having my kidlet somewhere else, where kids are kids and nobody gets homework until they’re 12, where Wednesdays are half-days, and the educational system is run by people who’ve actually taught kids.

That being said, I do think it’s important to instill a love of learning and good study habits. But I don’t think busywork-type-homework is the way to go with that. All that stuff ever made me do was figure out the quickest way to be done with something, and resent school.

Carasays:

November 24, 2013 at 8:35 pm

My 9 year old daughter’s school does not give homework on weekends. They are given time to play and pursue their interests and hobbies outside of school. More than the academics the school also teaches social responsibility and giving back to the community through servant leadership. As for our twin sons, we aren’t fond with sending them to formal schooling until they are at least 5. They learn a lot at home and the people in our community. Sure they can count now, write some, name their ABCs, colors, animals and what have you while the things they don’t know now, they surely will learn eventually so we do not really feel the need to rush.

“Kids” and “high cortisol levels” should never be in the same sentence. Both my children have hated first grade. I think Sophie is a clever little girl. But what can we do about this?

Momof4says:

November 25, 2013 at 8:10 am

One thing I don’t like about “homework” is something I noticed so far in both my kids.

They don’t try as hard at home. They are also sloppier in thier work at home. I see the stuff they do at school and it’s neater and better. The teachers praise thier work at school.

So my thoughts are similar to when we tell people to “leave work at work, and home at home.” I think as parents we should fill in the gaps where the school doesn’t teach something we feel is important they should know. But make home where they do chores, relax and are allowed to be themselves.

I don’t want my kids to be taught life is “go-go-go” all the time, and I feel Homework plays into that a bit.

And this from someone who loves to learn and prizes education. I don’t want my kids burnt out before middle school. I have a degree, and I had fun earning it (yes I am a geek), but I want my kids to want it, not feel they have to.

My 6 year old is in first grade and comes home with 2-3 hours of homework almost every night plus weekend projects. It is way too much for a small child and she is constantly exhausted and frustrated with her schoolwork. I am not seeing anything good out of this much work. The projects she brings home are parent projects because she doesn’t even understand them. I’m looking into homeschooling because there is no reason to be in school all day and have homework all night.

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